Methods and systems for transmitting a video as an asynchronous artifact

ABSTRACT

Exemplary embodiments relate to techniques for sharing live video while maintaining an asynchronous copy of the video. According to some embodiments, a user begins to record video and shares the video with selected other users. If one of the other users opts to join the original user, the shared video upgrades to a live video conversation. If no one (or only some participants) joins the original user, the recorded video becomes an asynchronous artifact in the users&#39; messaging history. In some embodiments, the live video may be recorded and shared in response to a first user initiating a video call with at least a second user, but receiving no answer. The first user begins to share a live video (which may become an asynchronous artifact). If the second user joins the call while the video is being recorded, the conversation may upgraded to a video conversation.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims the benefit of priorityto U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/346,354, titled “METHODS ANDSYSTEMS FOR TRANSMITTING A VIDEO AS AN ASYNCHRONOUS ARTIFACT,” filed onNov. 8, 2016, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Communications systems allow two or more users to communicate byexchanging text, audio, video, or other forms of communications.Communications systems may allow users to communicate synchronously(e.g., a real-time conversation) or asynchronously (e.g., a conversationin which a sender leaves a message for later retrieval and possibleresponse by a recipient). It may be difficult for users to set upsynchronous conversations, because a synchronous conversation generallyrequires that all conversation participants are interacting with theircommunications devices at the same time. In some cases, the time windowfor joining a conversation may be relatively short, because a senderdoes not generally wish to wait for a prolonged period of time beforedetermining that a recipient is not answering their call. In the case ofa missed call a sender may be able to leave a message for a recipient tobe retrieved later. However, in many cases the sender will not opt toleave a message, or the recipient may not respond to the message.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A depicts an exemplary communications interface including severaltypes of individual and group messages;

FIG. 1B depicts an example of selecting a group of recipients of amessage in a messaging interface.

FIG. 1C depicts an exemplary interface for initiating a videocommunication;

FIG. 1D depicts an exemplary interface for choosing between a live videocall and an asynchronous video message;

FIG. 1E depicts an exemplary interface for recording a video;

FIG. 1F depicts an exemplary interface for participating in asynchronous video conversation;

FIG. 2A depicts an exemplary interface for accepting or rejecting aninvitation to a synchronous video conversation;

FIG. 2B depicts an exemplary interface for participating in thesynchronous video conversation of FIG. 1F from the perspective of arecipient;

FIG. 2C depicts an exemplary messaging interface for displaying anasynchronous video message;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart depicting exemplary server-side video note logic;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart depicting exemplary sender client-side video notelogic;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart depicting exemplary recipient client-side videonote logic;

FIG. 6 is a data flow diagram depicting information exchange betweenvarious devices, according to an exemplary embodiment in which aninvitation to a video call is accepted;

FIG. 7 is a data flow diagram depicting information exchange betweenvarious devices, according to an exemplary embodiment in which aninvitation to a video call is expressly or implicitly rejected;

FIG. 8A is a block diagram providing an overview of a system includingan exemplary centralized communications service;

FIG. 8B is a block diagram providing an overview of a system includingan exemplary distributed communications service;

FIG. 8C depicts the social networking graph of FIGS. 8A-8B in moredetail;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram depicting an example of a system for amessaging service;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary computing devicesuitable for use with exemplary embodiments;

FIG. 11 depicts an exemplary communication architecture; and

FIG. 12 is a block diagram depicting an exemplary multicarriercommunications device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Exemplary embodiments relate to techniques for sharing live video whilemaintaining an asynchronous copy of the video. According to someembodiments, a user begins to record video and shares the video withselected other users. If one of the other users opts to join theoriginal user, the shared video upgrades to a live video conversation.If no one (or only some participants) joins the original user, therecorded video becomes an asynchronous artifact in the non-responsiveusers' messaging history.

In some embodiments, the live video may be recorded and shared inresponse to a first user initiating a video call with at least a seconduser, but receiving no answer. The first user begins to share a livevideo (which may become an asynchronous artifact). If the second userjoins the call while the video is being recorded, the conversation mayupgraded to a video conversation.

Because exemplary embodiments provide a straightforward and efficientway to convert an asynchronous conversation into a synchronousconversation, embodiments may increase the chances that users willconnect in a synchronous manner. The extended period of time in whichthe sender is recording the initial video may provide an increasedwindow in which the recipient can accept an invitation to join a livevideo conversation. At the same time, the sender is not simply waitingfor the recipient to respond; the sender is able to record a videomessage while holding the answering window open. If the recipient doesnot respond, the video artifact may reinforce that the original senderintended to share an experience or conversation with the recipient,which may increase the chance that the intended recipient will reply tothe video artifact.

As an aid to understanding, a series of examples will first be presentedbefore detailed descriptions of the underlying implementations aredescribed. It is noted that these examples are intended to beillustrative only and that the present invention is not limited to theembodiments shown.

Reference is now made to the drawings, wherein like reference numeralsare used to refer to like elements throughout. In the followingdescription, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details areset forth in order to provide a thorough understanding thereof. However,the novel embodiments can be practiced without these specific details.In other instances, well known structures and devices are shown in blockdiagram form in order to facilitate a description thereof. The intentionis to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives consistentwith the claimed subject matter.

In the Figures and the accompanying description, the designations “a”and “b” and “c” (and similar designators) are intended to be variablesrepresenting any positive integer. Thus, for example, if animplementation sets a value for a=5, then a complete set of components122 illustrated as components 122-1 through 122-a may include components122-1, 122-2, 122-3, 122-4, and 122-5. The embodiments are not limitedin this context.

A general overview of video communication techniques is now described.

Users may interact with a messaging system through a client application.FIG. 1A depicts an example of a client application displaying amessaging interface 100. The messaging interface 100 of FIG. 1A shows anexemplary summary screen that provides an overview of messages recentlysent to (or by) the user of the client application.

Messaging systems may support a variety of different types of messages.For example, the messaging interface 100 includes a summary of aone-to-one (or individual) message 102. A one-to-one message is amessage exchanged between two entities, so that only the two entitiescan see and participate in the conversation. For example, in theone-to-one message 102, the current user (Jack Doe) recently received amessage from his wife, Jane Doe. The other participant in theconversation is indicated in the interface 100 using an identifier 104(including a name and profile picture, in this example). Only Jack andJane participate in the conversation, and only Jack and Jane can viewthe conversation.

Another message type supported by the messaging system is a groupconversation. In a group conversation, multiple users see andparticipate in the conversation. FIG. 1A depicts an exemplary summary ofa group conversation 106. In the summary of the group conversation 106,each of the other users participating in the conversation is indicatedby respective identifiers 108. In this case, the identifiers include thenames or handles of the other users participating in the groupconversation, and an icon to indicate that the conversation is a groupconversation. For example, in this case the current user (Jack) isparticipating in a conversation with his friends Ben and Alex. Jack,Ben, and Alex can each see all of the messages in the conversation(regardless of who sent the message) and can send messages to the group.

Another type of message supported by the messaging system is a messagebetween one or more users and an organization (such as a business) orevent. For example, FIG. 1A shows an event message 110 sent by thecurrent user (Jack) to the page of an event being organized through asocial network. The identifier 112 identifies the name of the event, andan icon is presented identifying this particular event is a concert. Inan event message 110, all participants in the event (as a participant isdefined, e.g., by the event's social networking page) can view and sendevent messages 110. Participants may include, for example, peopleattending the event, fans of the event that have signed up with theevent's page to receive messages about the event, event organizers, etc.

By selecting an existing message summary 102, 106, 110, the user canview messages in an existing conversation and add new messages to theconversation. Moreover, the interface 100 includes interface elements114 allowing the user to create a new message.

For example, FIG. 1B depicts an interface 116 displayed by the messagingclient application in response to receiving a selection of the “compose”interface element 114. A “new message” window is displayed in theinterface 116. The new message window includes a recipient field 118 forallowing the user to manually enter identifiers for one or morerecipients. If available, the user's contacts list 120 may also bedisplayed in the interface 116 in order to simplify the selection of therecipients.

In the example of FIG. 1B, the user has entered the identifier of arecipient in the recipient field 118. In order to indicate therecipient's inclusion in the recipients list, a selection indication 122is displayed on the recipient's icon in the contacts list 120. As shownin this example, it is possible to select more than recipient in theinterface 116 in order to create a group message, e.g. by manuallyadding multiple recipients in the recipient field 118, selectingmultiple contacts in the contacts list 120, or a combination of methods.

As shown in FIG. 1C, a user may indicate an intent to record a video fortransmission to the recipients, and/or to engage in a live (synchronous)video conversation with the recipients. The user may select the intendedrecipients of the video recording or video conversation before or afterindicating the intent. In order to indicate the intent, a contentcreation interface 122 may be presented, which may include various waysto generate a message (e.g., a keyboard for entering text, an icon forrecording audio, etc.). The content creation interface 122 may includean icon 124 or other designator that, upon selection, signals the user'sintent to transmit video content.

Upon receiving a selection of the icon 124, the interface may display aprompt 126 (FIG. 1D) asking the user whether the user intends to recordvideo for transmission as an asynchronous message, or to engage with therecipients in a live video conversation. The prompt 126 may include oneor more selectable options for identifying the user's intent.

If the user opts to engage in a live video transmission, an invitationmay be sent to the identified recipients to engage in real-timecommunication. As shown in FIG. 1E, while awaiting a response to theinvitation, an interface 128 may be presented to allow the user to beginto record a message that will be displayed asynchronously for anyrecipients that do not respond to the invitation (or that deny therequest to engage in real-time communication).

The interface 128 may include status indications 130 indicating which,if any, recipients have joined the call. In the example depicted in FIG.1E, no users have yet joined the call and hence the status indications130 are greyed-out. The interface 128 may further include a window 132that shows a preview of the video message as it is being recorded.

The interface 128 may also include a video cessation element 134. Uponselecting the video cessation element 134, the system may stop recordingthe video, rescind the invitation to join in a real-time communication,and transmit the recorded video to the recipients to appear as anasynchronous artifact in the recipients' messaging history.

If, on the other hand, the user selects the option to record anasynchronous message on the prompt 126, a similar interface 128 may bepresented. The interface 128 in this case may lack the statusindications 130, since the recipients have not been invited to join in areal-time communication.

If one or more of the recipients joins the real-time communication, theinterface 128 may be updated as shown in FIG. 1F. The status indications130 may change in order to reflect which recipient(s) have joined thecall. One or more display windows 134 may appear (e.g., one for eachrecipient that has joined the call), and the real-time communication maycommence.

In some embodiments, recording of the asynchronous video artifact maycease when at least one recipient joins the call. Optionally, some orall of the video that was recorded may be sent to recipients who havenot joined the call, or who do not join the call by the time the call isterminated, as an asynchronous artifact in the non-joining membersmessaging history. Alternatively or in addition, some or all of thereal-time video call may be recorded and stored, and transmitted to thenon-participating recipients as an asynchronous artifact.

FIGS. 2A-2C depict the above procedure from the point of view of therecipient's communications device. Upon receiving the invitation toparticipate in the real-time conversation, a prompt 202 may be displayedon the recipient's communications device, as shown in FIG. 2A. Theprompt 202 may identify the participants invited into the real-timecommunication, the organizer of the real-time conversation, and mayprovide a list of options 204 for responding to the invitation.

The list of options 204 may include an option to accept the invitation.Upon accepting the invitation, the interface may change to display asynchronous video communications interface (FIG. 2B). The synchronousvideo communications interface may be similar to the interface displayedon the original sender's device (with the exception that the previewwindow may display the current user, and the display windows may reflectthe other participants).

The list of options 204 may further include an option to wait or deferthe invitation. Because the invitation is held open as long as theoriginal sender is recording the message, the invited recipient may havea time window in which to accept the invitation. By selecting defer, theinvitation may be minimized (for example) to allow the recipient tocontinue in whatever tasks they might be participating. As long as theinvitation window remains open, the recipient can return to the prompt202 and accept at any time.

The list of options 204 may further include an option to expresslyreject the invitation. Upon selecting the option to reject theinvitation, the communications system may be informed of the rejection.Optionally, the interface 124 of the sender may be updated to reflectthat the recipient has rejected the invitation. The invitation may alsobe implicitly rejected if the recipient's communication device and/ormessaging account is offline, or if the recipient fails to respond tothe prompt 202 (e.g., within a predetermined period of time, or beforethe invitation is rescinded because the sender completes recording ofthe video).

If the invitation is expressly or implicitly rejected, the recordedvideo may appear as an asynchronous artifact 208 in the recipient'smessaging interface 206, as shown in FIG. 2C. A messaging thread may beassociated with the video, which includes the recipients identified inthe original invitation. Within the messaging thread, the artifact 208may appear as a message. A play button may allow the recipient to viewthe video artifact 208 within the context of the thread.

In summary, the sender is able to create an asynchronous video message,which may be upgraded to a synchronous video conversation if one or morerecipients accept the invitation to join the sender. If no recipients oronly some recipients accept the invitation, a video artifact may be leftas an asynchronous message to the non-participating recipients. Becausethe invitation is held open during the time that the video artifact isrecorded, there is an increased chance that the participants will beable to connect in real-time communication. And because the video isstored as an artifact in the recipients' messaging history, there is anincreased chance that the non-participating recipients will respond tothe video artifact and engage in further conversation.

This brief summary is intended to serve as a non-limiting introductionto the concepts discussed in more detail below, in connection with FIGS.3-8C. However, before discussing further exemplary embodiments, a briefnote on data privacy is first provided. A more detailed description ofprivacy settings and authentication will be addressed in connection withthe following Figures.

A Note on Data Privacy

Some embodiments described herein make use of training data or metricsthat may include information voluntarily provided by one or more users.In such embodiments, data privacy may be protected in a number of ways.

For example, the user may be required to opt in to any data collectionbefore user data is collected or used. The user may also be providedwith the opportunity to opt out of any data collection. Before opting into data collection, the user may be provided with a description of theways in which the data will be used, how long the data will be retained,and the safeguards that are in place to protect the data fromdisclosure.

Any information identifying the user from which the data was collectedmay be purged or disassociated from the data. In the event that anyidentifying information needs to be retained (e.g., to meet regulatoryrequirements), the user may be informed of the collection of theidentifying information, the uses that will be made of the identifyinginformation, and the amount of time that the identifying informationwill be retained. Information specifically identifying the user may beremoved and may be replaced with, for example, a generic identificationnumber or other non-specific form of identification.

Once collected, the data may be stored in a secure data storage locationthat includes safeguards to prevent unauthorized access to the data. Thedata may be stored in an encrypted format. Identifying informationand/or non-identifying information may be purged from the data storageafter a predetermined period of time.

Although particular privacy protection techniques are described hereinfor purposes of illustration, one of ordinary skill in the art willrecognize that privacy protected in other manners as well. Furtherdetails regarding data privacy are discussed below in the sectiondescribing network embodiments.

Assuming a user's privacy conditions are met, exemplary embodiments maybe deployed in a wide variety of messaging systems, including messagingin a social network or on a mobile device (e.g., through a messagingclient application or via short message service), among otherpossibilities. An overview of exemplary logic and processes for engagingin synchronous and/or asynchronous video conversation in a messagingsystem is next provided

Asynchronous Video Notes and Synchronous Video Communications

Any or all of the above-described interfaces may be presented as part ofa set of procedures for engaging in asynchronous and/or synchronousvideo communications. FIG. 3 is a flowchart depicting an exemplaryprocess 300 for engaging in such communications from the perspective ofa communications server device.

At block 302, the server device may receive an invitation to participatein a synchronous video conversation. The invitation may originate with asender client device and may be directed to one or more identifiedrecipients. The invitation may include details used to set up a videoconversation, such as any details necessary to connect the sender'sclient device to the recipients' client devices. For example, theinvitation may include information pertaining to the sender's half of ahandshake procedure used to set up the video conversation. The serverdevice may process the invitation and, at block 304, may transmit theinvitation to the identified recipients.

At block 306, the server device may optionally receive streaming videofrom the sender client device. The streaming video may correspond to avideo message currently being recorded at the sender client device. Theserver device may transmit the streaming video to the one or morerecipients identified in the invitation.

At block 308, the server device may receive an instruction. Theinstruction may originate at the sender client device or may originateat one of the recipients' client devices. The server device may parsethe instruction in order to determine a type of the instruction. Forexample, a header of the instruction may identify the type of theinstruction, while the content or payload of the instruction may includedetails used by the server device to carry out the instruction.

At block 310, the server device may determine if the type of theinstruction corresponds to a video conversation handshake. For example,a recipient may have accepted the invitation transmitted at block 304.

If the determination at block 310 is “YES” (i.e., the instruction is avideo conversation handshake), then processing may proceed to block 312.At block 312, the server device may use the information in the originalinvitation and/or the instruction in order to set up a videoconversation between the sender and the recipient that has replied. Theinstruction received at block 308 may include, for example, informationpertaining to the recipient's half of a video conversation handshakeprocedure. If a synchronous video conversation associated with theinvitation has not yet been established, then a new video conversationmay be established with the sender and the recipient whose instructionwas received in block 308. If the invitation identified multiplerecipients and the sender has already entered into a video conversationwith another recipient, then at block 312 the recipient associated withthe instruction received at block 308 may be added to the existing videoconversation. Processing may then return to block 308 and the serverdevice may await further instructions.

If the determination at block 310 is “NO” (i.e., the instruction is nota video conversation handshake), then processing may proceed to block314. At block 314, the server device may determine if the instruction isa thread creation instruction. For example, the sender's client devicemay request that a new messaging thread be created to hold theasynchronous video artifact generated at the client device.

If the determination at block 314 is “YES” (i.e., the instruction is aninstruction to create a new message thread), then processing may proceedto block 316. At block 316, a new messaging thread may be created. Thethread creation instruction may specify the participants in the thread,or may refer to the earlier invitation and the sender and any recipientsdesignated by the invitation may be treated as the participants. Athread identifier may be assigned to the thread and the threadidentifier may be returned to the client device that originated theinstruction received at block 308. Processing may then return to block308 and the server device may await further instructions.

If the determination at block 314 is “NO” (i.e., the instruction is notan instruction to create a new message thread), then processing mayproceed to block 318. At block 318, the server device determines if theinstruction is an instruction to transmit a message to one or morerecipients. For example, the sender's client device may completerecording of the video and may request that a message be transmitted tothe recipients identified in the invitation, where the message includesa copy of the video. If the determination at block 318 is “YES” (i.e.,the instruction is a message), then processing may proceed to block 320,where the message may be transmitted to any recipients identified in theinstruction (and/or recipients identified in an invitation referenced bythe instruction). Processing may then return to block 308 and the serverdevice may await further instructions.

If the determination at block 318 is “NO” (i.e., the instruction is nota message), then processing may proceed to block 322. At block 322, theserver device may perform any other processing appropriate to the typeof instruction received at block 308. Processing may then return toblock 308 and the server device may await further instructions.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart depicting an exemplary process 400 for engaging inasynchronous and/or synchronous communications, from the perspective ofa client device associated with a sender or originator of thecommunication.

At block 402, the client device may receive an identification ofrecipients for an asynchronous and/or synchronous communication. Forexample, an interface may be presented that includes a list of contactsassociated with the sender in a messaging service. Optionally, a list ofrecipients may be suggested to the sender. The interface may allow forsome or all of the contacts or suggested recipients to be selected.

At block 404, the client device may receive an identification of intent.For example, the client device may receive an instruction to record avideo message (as in FIG. 1C) and may present a prompt, such as the onedepicted in FIG. 1D, to determine if the user intends to transmit anasynchronous video message or participate in a synchronous videoconversation.

Assuming that the intent is to participate in a synchronous videoconversation, at block 406 the client device may transmit an invitationto participate in the synchronous video conversation to the recipientsidentified at block 402. The invitation may be transmitted to a serverdevice associated with a messaging service.

At block 408, the client device may receive an instruction to initiaterecording of a video. In some embodiments, recording of the video maybegin automatically as soon as the invitation is sent. In otherembodiments, recording of the video may be manually triggered while thesender awaits a response to the invitation.

In the example depicted in FIG. 4, the user first identifies recipientsof the video and then begins to record the video. It is noted, however,that this process may be reversed. For example, the user may first beginrecording the video, and may then identify recipients for the videowhile the video is being recorded or after recording of the video iscomplete.

At block 410, the client device may optionally stream the video whoserecording was initiated at block 410. The video may be streamed througha server device to the recipients identified in the invitation.

At block 412, the client device may determine if the invitation has beenaccepted by at least one of the recipients. For example, the clientdevice may receive an acceptance of the invitation or a rejection of theinvitation from the server device.

If the determination at block 412 is “NO” (i.e., the invitation has notyet been accepted), processing may proceed to block 414. At block 414,the client device may determine if recording of the video has beenstopped. Recording of the video may be stopped manually, for examplewhen the user presses a stop button, or may be stopped automatically(e.g., when the user reaches a maximum video length threshold).

If the determination at block 414 is “NO” (i.e., the recording has notyet been stopped), processing may return to block 410 and the video mayoptionally continue to be streamed to the recipients. If streaming isnot implemented, then processing may return to block 412 and the clientdevice may determine if the invitation has been accepted. The clientdevice may wait a predetermined amount of time (e.g., 2 seconds) beforechecking again to determine whether the invitation has been accepted.

If the determination at block 414 is “YES” (i.e., the recording has beenstopped), then the invitation may be rescinded or canceled andprocessing may proceed to block 420 (described in more detail below).

Returning to block 412, if the determination is “YES (i.e., theinvitation has been accepted), processing may proceed to block 416. Atblock 416, the client device may transition the current video recordingto a video conversation. The server device may facilitate a synchronousvideo connection between the sender and any recipients that have joinedthe video call. An interface for recording the video, such as theinterface depicted in FIG. 1E, may be altered or replaced to present theuser with an interface for participating in a synchronous conversation(such as the interface depicted in FIG. 1F).

Optionally (block 418), the client device may continue to record thevideo to be stored as an asynchronous record in a messaging threadassociated with the invitation. Alternatively, recording of the videomay be stopped. The initially-recorded video, the recorded video plusthe video conversation, or just the video conversation may be stored asasynchronous artifacts in the messaging thread.

Once the recording has stopped at block 414 and/or when the videoconversation has been completed, processing may proceed to block 420 andthe client device may add the recorded video note to a messaging threadassociated with the sender and the recipients identified at block 402.If a messaging thread including these participants already exists, theclient device may retrieve a thread identifier associated with thethread. If no such thread exists, the client device may request that theserver device create one.

At block 422, the client device may transmit the recorded video as partof a message associated with the thread identifier from block 420. Atblock 424, the client device may receive a response to the video in themessaging thread identified or created at block 420. The response may beadded to the messaging thread and displayed on the client device.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart depicting an exemplary process 500 for engaging inasynchronous and/or synchronous communications, from the perspective ofa client device associated with a recipient or invitee of thecommunication.

At block 502, the client device may receive an invitation to participatein a synchronous video conversation. For example, the server device maytransmit the above-described invitation on behalf of the originalsender.

At block 504, the client device may display a prompt asking the userwhether the user wishes to join the synchronous video conversation(e.g., the prompt depicted in FIG. 2A). The prompt may provide a list ofoptions, such as an option to accept and join the synchronous videoconversation, an option to reject the invitation, and an option to deferaction on the invitation.

Optionally, at block 506 the client device may receive streaming videofrom the sender and may display the streaming video.

At block 508, the client device may determine whether an instruction hasbeen received (e.g., an instruction issued through an input device suchas a keyboard, mouse, or touch-screen display of the client device). Ifthe determination at block 508 is “NO” (i.e., an instruction has notbeen received), then processing may proceed to block 510. At block 510,the client device determines if the invitation has been rescinded. Theinvitation may be rescinded, for example, when the sender completesrecording of the video and an asynchronous video note is added to therecipients' messaging histories. Alternatively, the sender may canceltransmission of the message and the video note may be deleted at thesender's device.

If the determination at block 510 is “NO” (i.e., the invitation has notbeen rescinded), then processing may return to block 504, and the promptmay continue to be displayed and the video may optionally continue to bestreamed. Processing may wait a predetermined period of time (e.g., twoseconds) before returning to block 504.

If the determination at block 510 is “YES” (i.e., the invitation hasbeen rescinded), then processing may proceed to block 512. At block 512,a video note recorded by the sender may be received (e.g., from theserver device). The video note may be received as part of a messagetransmitted by the original sender. The video note may be added, as anasynchronous artifact, to the message history of the recipient in athread associated with the sender, the recipient, and any otherparticipants identified in the original invitation. The thread may beidentified by a thread identifier received as part of the message. Whenviewing a messaging interface, such as the interface depicted in FIG.2C, the video note may appear in the messaging history.

Processing may then proceed to block 518. At block 518, the recipientmay generate a message in response to the video note and may transmitthe message to the server device. The message may be associated with thesame message thread identifier as the video note received at block 512.

Returning to block 508, if the determination is “YES” (i.e., aninstruction has been received), then the client device may determinewhat type of instruction was received. If the instruction is aninstruction to reject the invitation, then processing may proceed toblock 512 and the video note may be received and associated with amessaging thread in the recipient's messaging history.

If the instruction is an instruction to defer action, then processingmay proceed to block 514. At block 514, the prompt may be minimized andthe user may continue to interact with their client device. Processingmay return to block 508 and the client device may await another action,such as a rejection or acceptance of the invitation, or the rescindingof the invitation.

If the instruction is an instruction to accept the invitation, thenprocessing may proceed to block 516. At block 516, the client device mayjoin a video conversation with the sender. An interface, such as the onedepicted in FIG. 2B, may be presented to the user for participating inthe synchronous conversation.

FIG. 6 is a data flow graph depicting exemplary exchanges of databetween the above-mentioned server device, sender client device, andrecipient client device.

An invitation 602 may be transmitted from a client device associatedwith the sender to the server device. In response to receiving theinvitation, the server device may transmit a copy 604 of the invitationto each recipient client device identified in the invitation.

Optionally, the sender client may transmit a video stream 606 to theserver device as the video note is recorded at the client device. Theserver device may relay a copy 608 of the video stream to each recipientclient identified in the invitation.

The recipient client device may transmit a response 610 back to theserver. The response 610 may be a response to the invitation 602 and, inthis example, indicates that the recipient client device has acceptedthe invitation to participate in a synchronous conversation. As aresult, the server device may transmit video call initiationinstructions 612, 614 to the sender's client and the recipient's client.These instructions may include information allowing the clients toconnect in a synchronous video call. The server device may rely oninformation from the invitation 602 and the response 610 (e.g., videocall handshake information) in order to generate the initiationinstructions 612, 614.

At some point, the sender or one of the participants may end the videocall. In this example, the sender sends a call termination instruction616 to the server, and the server accordingly sends a terminationinstruction 618 to the participants in the call.

Upon completion of the call, the client device may optionally transmitan asynchronous video artifact 620 to the server for distribution toparticipants identified in the invitation 602. The video artifact maybe, for example, some or all of the video recorded by the sender beforethe communication was upgraded to a synchronous video call, some or allof the synchronous video call, or both. In some embodiments, eachrecipient receives a copy of the video artifact 620. For example, thevideo artifact 620 may be added to the messaging history of therecipients. In other embodiments, only those recipients that did notparticipate in the video call receive a copy of the video artifact. Anew messaging thread (e.g. a thread between only the sender and thenon-participating recipient) may be created, an existing thread may beidentified, or the video artifact may be presented outside the contextof a messaging thread.

In this example, the video artifact 620 is transmitted in response tothe call being terminated. However, the video artifact may betransmitted at different times. For example, as soon as the asynchronousvideo recording is upgraded to a synchronous video call with thetransmission of the video call initiations 612, 614, recording of thevideo may cease at the sender's client device and the video artifact maybe transmitted.

In further embodiments, the initial invitation 602 may be an invitationto participate in a video call, and recording of the video note to serveas a video artifact 620 may begin after the video call fails to connect(e.g., if the response 610 has not been received within a predeterminedperiod of time).

FIG. 7 is a data flow diagram depicting information exchange betweenvarious devices, according to an exemplary embodiment in which aninvitation to a video call is expressly or implicitly rejected.

As shown in FIG. 7, the initial invitations 702, 704 and video streams706, 708 are distributed in the same manner as in FIG. 6. However, inthis case, the response 710 is a rejection of the invitation. Theresponse 710 may be an express rejection of the invitation (e.g., therecipient selects the “reject” option on the prompt) or an implicitrejection of the invitation (e.g., the recipient fails to respond to theinvitation within a predetermined period of time, or the invitation isrescinded before the recipient can respond.

The server may optionally make the sender's client device aware of therejection. In any event, the asynchronous video artifact 712 recorded bythe sender's device may be transmitted to the server, and a copy 714 maybe relayed to the recipient's mobile device for inclusion in a messagethread associated with the sender, recipient, and any other invitees ofthe invitation 702.

Messaging System Overview

These examples may be implemented by a messaging system that is providedeither locally, at a client device, or remotely (e.g., at a remoteserver). FIGS. 8A-8C depict various examples of messaging systems, andare discussed in more detail below.

FIG. 8A depicts an exemplary centralized messaging system 800, in whichfunctionality for organizing messages asynchronously and/or usingthreads is integrated into a messaging server. The centralized system800 may implement some or all of the structure and/or operations of amessaging service in a single computing entity, such as entirely withina single centralized server device 826.

The messaging system 800 may include a computer-implemented systemhaving software applications that include one or more components.Although the messaging system 800 shown in FIG. 8A has a limited numberof elements in a certain topology, the messaging system 800 may includemore or fewer elements in alternate topologies.

A messaging service 800 may be generally arranged to receive, store, anddeliver messages. The messaging service 800 may store messages whilemessaging clients 820, such as may execute on client devices 810, areoffline and deliver the messages once the messaging clients areavailable.

A client device 810 may transmit messages addressed to a recipient user,user account, or other identifier resolving to a receiving client device810. In exemplary embodiments, each of the client devices 810 and theirrespective messaging clients 820 are associated with a particular useror users of the messaging service 800. In some embodiments, the clientdevices 810 may be cellular devices such as smartphones and may beidentified to the messaging service 800 based on a phone numberassociated with each of the client devices 810. In some embodiments,each messaging client may be associated with a user account registeredwith the messaging service 800. In general, each messaging client may beaddressed through various techniques for the reception of messages.While in some embodiments the client devices 810 may be cellulardevices, in other embodiments one or more of the client devices 810 maybe personal computers, tablet devices, any other form of computingdevice.

The client 810 may include one or more input devices 812 and one or moreoutput devices 818. The input devices 812 may include, for example,microphones, keyboards, cameras, electronic pens, touch screens, andother devices for receiving inputs including message data, requests,commands, user interface interactions, selections, and other types ofinput. The output devices 818 may include a speaker, a display devicesuch as a monitor or touch screen, and other devices for presenting aninterface to the messaging system 800.

The client 810 may include a memory, which may be a non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium, such as one or a combination of a harddrive, solid state drive, flash storage, read only memory, or randomaccess memory. The memory may a representation of an input 814 and/or arepresentation of an output 816, as well as one or more applications.For example, the memory may store a messaging client 820 and/or a socialnetworking client that allows a user to interact with a socialnetworking service.

The input 814 may be textual, such as in the case where the input device812 is a keyboard. Alternatively, the input 814 may be an audiorecording, such as in the case where the input device 812 is amicrophone. Accordingly, the input 814 may be subjected to automaticspeech recognition (ASR) logic in order to transform the audio recordingto text that is processable by the messaging system 800. The ASR logicmay be located at the client device 810 (so that the audio recording isprocessed locally by the client 810 and corresponding text istransmitted to the messaging server 826), or may be located remotely atthe messaging server 826 (in which case, the audio recording may betransmitted to the messaging server 826 and the messaging server 826 mayprocess the audio into text). Other combinations are also possible—forexample, if the input device 812 is a touch pad or electronic pen, theinput 814 may be in the form of handwriting, which may be subjected tohandwriting or optical character recognition analysis logic in order totransform the input 812 into processable text.

The client 810 may be provided with a network interface 822 forcommunicating with a network 824, such as the Internet. The networkinterface 822 may transmit the input 812 in a format and/or using aprotocol compatible with the network 824 and may receive a correspondingoutput 816 from the network 824.

The network interface 822 may communicate through the network 824 to amessaging server 826. The messaging server 826 may be operative toreceive, store, and forward messages between messaging clients.

The messaging server 826 may include a network interface 822, messagingpreferences 828, and messaging inbox logic 830. The messagingpreferences 828 may include one or more privacy settings for one or moreusers and/or message threads. For example, the messaging preferences 828may include a setting that indicates whether to display messagessynchronously or asynchronously. Furthermore, the messaging preferences828 may include one or more settings, including default settings, forthe logic described herein.

The messaging logic 830 may include video note logic 832 for processingvideo notes and upgrading asynchronous video conversations tosynchronous conversations, as described above. The video note logic 832may include, for example, logic similar to that described in connectionwith FIG. 4.

The network interface 822 of the client 810 and/or the messaging server826 may also be used to communicate through the network 824 with asocial networking server 836. The social networking server 836 mayinclude or may interact with a social networking graph 838 that definesconnections in a social network. Furthermore, the messaging server 826may connect to the social networking server 836 for various purposes,such as retrieving connection information, messaging history, eventdetails, etc. from the social network.

A user of the client 810 may be an individual (human user), an entity(e.g., an enterprise, business, or third-party application), or a group(e.g., of individuals or entities) that interacts or communicates withor over the social networking server 836. The social-networking server836 may be a network-addressable computing system hosting an onlinesocial network. The social networking server 836 may generate, store,receive, and send social-networking data, such as, for example,user-profile data, concept-profile data, social-graph information, orother suitable data related to the online social network. The socialnetworking server 836 may be accessed by the other components of thenetwork environment either directly or via the network 824.

The social networking server 836 may include an authorization server (orother suitable component(s)) that allows users to opt in to or opt outof having their actions logged by social-networking server 836 or sharedwith other systems (e.g., third-party systems, such as the messagingserver 826), for example, by setting appropriate privacy settings. Aprivacy setting of a user may determine what information associated withthe user may be logged, how information associated with the user may belogged, when information associated with the user may be logged, who maylog information associated with the user, whom information associatedwith the user may be shared with, and for what purposes informationassociated with the user may be logged or shared. Authorization serversmay be used to enforce one or more privacy settings of the users ofsocial-networking server 836 through blocking, data hashing,anonymization, or other suitable techniques as appropriate.

More specifically, one or more of the content objects of the onlinesocial network may be associated with a privacy setting. The privacysettings (or “access settings”) for an object may be stored in anysuitable manner, such as, for example, in association with the object,in an index on an authorization server, in another suitable manner, orany combination thereof. A privacy setting of an object may specify howthe object (or particular information associated with an object) can beaccessed (e.g., viewed or shared) using the online social network. Wherethe privacy settings for an object allow a particular user to accessthat object, the object may be described as being “visible” with respectto that user. As an example and not by way of limitation, a user of theonline social network may specify privacy settings for a user-profilepage identify a set of users that may access the work experienceinformation on the user-profile page, thus excluding other users fromaccessing the information. In particular embodiments, the privacysettings may specify a “blocked list” of users that should not beallowed to access certain information associated with the object. Inother words, the blocked list may specify one or more users or entitiesfor which an object is not visible. As an example and not by way oflimitation, a user may specify a set of users that may not access photosalbums associated with the user, thus excluding those users fromaccessing the photo albums (while also possibly allowing certain usersnot within the set of users to access the photo albums).

In particular embodiments, privacy settings may be associated withparticular elements of the social networking graph 838. Privacy settingsof a social-graph element, such as a node or an edge, may specify howthe social-graph element, information associated with the social-graphelement, or content objects associated with the social-graph element canbe accessed using the online social network. As an example and not byway of limitation, a particular concept node corresponding to aparticular photo may have a privacy setting specifying that the photomay only be accessed by users tagged in the photo and their friends. Inparticular embodiments, privacy settings may allow users to opt in oropt out of having their actions logged by social networking server 836or shared with other systems. In particular embodiments, the privacysettings associated with an object may specify any suitable granularityof permitted access or denial of access. As an example and not by way oflimitation, access or denial of access may be specified for particularusers (e.g., only me, my roommates, and my boss), users within aparticular degrees-of-separation (e.g., friends, or friends-of-friends),user groups (e.g., the gaming club, my family), user networks (e.g.,employees of particular employers, students or alumni of particularuniversity), all users (“public”), no users (“private”), users ofthird-party systems, particular applications (e.g., third-partyapplications, external websites), other suitable users or entities, orany combination thereof. Although this disclosure describes usingparticular privacy settings in a particular manner, this disclosurecontemplates using any suitable privacy settings in any suitable manner.

In response to a request from a user (or other entity) for a particularobject stored in a data store, the social networking server 836 may senda request to the data store for the object. The request may identify theuser associated with the request. The requested data object may only besent to the user (or a client system 810 of the user) if theauthorization server determines that the user is authorized to accessthe object based on the privacy settings associated with the object. Ifthe requesting user is not authorized to access the object, theauthorization server may prevent the requested object from beingretrieved from the data store, or may prevent the requested object frombe sent to the user. In the search query context, an object may only begenerated as a search result if the querying user is authorized toaccess the object. In other words, the object must have a visibilitythat is visible to the querying user. If the object has a visibilitythat is not visible to the user, the object may be excluded from thesearch results.

In some embodiments, targeting criteria may be used to identify users ofthe social network for various purposes. Targeting criteria used toidentify and target users may include explicit, stated user interests onsocial-networking server 836 or explicit connections of a user to anode, object, entity, brand, or page on social networking server 836. Inaddition, or as an alternative, such targeting criteria may includeimplicit or inferred user interests or connections (which may includeanalyzing a user's history, demographic, social or other activities,friends' social or other activities, subscriptions, or any of thepreceding of other users similar to the user (based, e.g., on sharedinterests, connections, or events)). Particular embodiments may utilizeplatform targeting, which may involve platform and “like” impressiondata; contextual signals (e.g., “Who is viewing now or has viewedrecently the page for COCA-COLA?”); light-weight connections (e.g.,“check-ins”); connection lookalikes; fans; extracted keywords; EMUadvertising; inferential advertising; coefficients, affinities, or othersocial-graph information; friends-of-friends connections; pinning orboosting; deals; polls; household income, social clusters or groups;products detected in images or other media; social- or open-graph edgetypes; geo-prediction; views of profile or pages; status updates orother user posts (analysis of which may involve natural-languageprocessing or keyword extraction); events information; or collaborativefiltering. Identifying and targeting users may also implicate privacysettings (such as user opt-outs), data hashing, or data anonymization,as appropriate.

The centralized embodiment depicted in FIG. 8A may be well-suited todeployment as a new system or as an upgrade to an existing system,because the video note logic is incorporated into the messaging server826. In contrast, FIG. 8B depicts an exemplary distributed messagingsystem 850, in which functionality for processing video notes andupgrading asynchronous conversations to synchronous conversations isdistributed and remotely accessible from the messaging server. Examplesof a distributed system 850 include a client-server architecture, a3-tier architecture, an N-tier architecture, a tightly-coupled orclustered architecture, a peer-to-peer architecture, a master-slavearchitecture, a shared database architecture, and other types ofdistributed systems.

Many of the components depicted in FIG. 8B are identical to those inFIG. 8A, and a description of these elements is not repeated here forthe sake of brevity. The primary difference between the centralizedembodiment and the distributed embodiment is the addition of a separatevideo note server 852, which hosts the thread creation component 832 andthe thread display component 834. The video note server 852 may bedistinct from the messaging server 826 but may communicate with themessaging server 826, either directly or through the network 824, toprovide the functionality of the video note logic 832 to the messagingserver 826.

The embodiment depicted in FIG. 8B may be particularly well suited toallow exemplary embodiments to be deployed alongside existing messagingsystems, for example when it is difficult or undesirable to replace anexisting messaging server. Additionally, in some cases the messagingserver 826 may have limited resources (e.g. processing or memoryresources) that limit or preclude the addition of the additional pivotfunctionality. In such situations, the capabilities described herein maystill be provided through the separate pivot server 882.

FIG. 8C illustrates an example of a social networking graph 838. Inexemplary embodiments, a social networking service may store one or moresocial graphs 838 in one or more data stores as a social graph datastructure via the social networking service.

The social graph 838 may include multiple nodes, such as user nodes 854and concept nodes 856. The social graph 838 may furthermore includeedges 858 connecting the nodes. The nodes and edges of social graph 838may be stored as data objects, for example, in a data store (such as asocial-graph database). Such a data store may include one or moresearchable or queryable indexes of nodes or edges of social graph 838.

The social graph 838 may be accessed by a social-networking server 826,client system 810, third-party system, or any other approved system ordevice for suitable applications.

A user node 854 may correspond to a user of the social-networkingsystem. A user may be an individual (human user), an entity (e.g., anenterprise, business, or third-party application), or a group (e.g., ofindividuals or entities) that interacts or communicates with or over thesocial-networking system. In exemplary embodiments, when a userregisters for an account with the social-networking system, thesocial-networking system may create a user node 854 corresponding to theuser, and store the user node 854 in one or more data stores. Users anduser nodes 854 described herein may, where appropriate, refer toregistered users and user nodes 854 associated with registered users. Inaddition or as an alternative, users and user nodes 854 described hereinmay, where appropriate, refer to users that have not registered with thesocial-networking system. In particular embodiments, a user node 854 maybe associated with information provided by a user or informationgathered by various systems, including the social-networking system. Asan example and not by way of limitation, a user may provide their name,profile picture, contact information, birth date, sex, marital status,family status, employment, education background, preferences, interests,or other demographic information. In particular embodiments, a user node854 may be associated with one or more data objects corresponding toinformation associated with a user. In particular embodiments, a usernode 854 may correspond to one or more webpages. A user node 854 may beassociated with a unique user identifier for the user in thesocial-networking system.

In particular embodiments, a concept node 856 may correspond to aconcept. As an example and not by way of limitation, a concept maycorrespond to a place (such as, for example, a movie theater,restaurant, landmark, or city); a website (such as, for example, awebsite associated with the social-network service or a third-partywebsite associated with a web-application server); an entity (such as,for example, a person, business, group, sports team, or celebrity); aresource (such as, for example, an audio file, video file, digitalphoto, text file, structured document, or application) which may belocated within the social-networking system or on an external server,such as a web-application server; real or intellectual property (suchas, for example, a sculpture, painting, movie, game, song, idea,photograph, or written work); a game; an activity; an idea or theory;another suitable concept; or two or more such concepts. A concept node556 may be associated with information of a concept provided by a useror information gathered by various systems, including thesocial-networking system. As an example and not by way of limitation,information of a concept may include a name or a title; one or moreimages (e.g., an image of the cover page of a book); a location (e.g.,an address or a geographical location); a website (which may beassociated with a URL); contact information (e.g., a phone number or anemail address); other suitable concept information; or any suitablecombination of such information. In particular embodiments, a conceptnode 856 may be associated with one or more data objects correspondingto information associated with concept node 856. In particularembodiments, a concept node 856 may correspond to one or more webpages.

In particular embodiments, a node in social graph 838 may represent orbe represented by a webpage (which may be referred to as a “profilepage”). Profile pages may be hosted by or accessible to thesocial-networking system. Profile pages may also be hosted onthird-party websites associated with a third-party server. As an exampleand not by way of limitation, a profile page corresponding to aparticular external webpage may be the particular external webpage andthe profile page may correspond to a particular concept node 856.Profile pages may be viewable by all or a selected subset of otherusers. As an example and not by way of limitation, a user node 854 mayhave a corresponding user-profile page in which the corresponding usermay add content, make declarations, or otherwise express himself orherself. A business page may comprise a user-profile page for a commerceentity. As another example and not by way of limitation, a concept node856 may have a corresponding concept-profile page in which one or moreusers may add content, make declarations, or express themselves,particularly in relation to the concept corresponding to concept node856.

In particular embodiments, a concept node 856 may represent athird-party webpage or resource hosted by a third-party system. Thethird-party webpage or resource may include, among other elements,content, a selectable or other icon, or other inter-actable object(which may be implemented, for example, in JavaScript, AJAX, or PHPcodes) representing an action or activity. As an example and not by wayof limitation, a third-party webpage may include a selectable icon suchas “like,” “check in,” “eat,” “recommend,” or another suitable action oractivity. A user viewing the third-party webpage may perform an actionby selecting one of the icons (e.g., “eat”), causing a client system tosend to the social-networking system a message indicating the user'saction. In response to the message, the social-networking system maycreate an edge (e.g., an “eat” edge) between a user node 854corresponding to the user and a concept node 856 corresponding to thethird-party webpage or resource and store edge 858 in one or more datastores.

In particular embodiments, a pair of nodes in social graph 838 may beconnected to each other by one or more edges 858. An edge 858 connectinga pair of nodes may represent a relationship between the pair of nodes.In particular embodiments, an edge 858 may include or represent one ormore data objects or attributes corresponding to the relationshipbetween a pair of nodes. As an example and not by way of limitation, afirst user may indicate that a second user is a “friend” of the firstuser. In response to this indication, the social-networking system maysend a “friend request” to the second user. If the second user confirmsthe “friend request,” the social-networking system may create an edge858 connecting the first user's user node 854 to the second user's usernode 854 in social graph 838 and store edge 858 as social-graphinformation in one or more data stores. In the example of FIG. 8C,social graph 838 includes an edge 858 indicating a friend relationbetween user nodes 854 of user “Amanda” and user “Dorothy.” Althoughthis disclosure describes or illustrates particular edges 858 withparticular attributes connecting particular user nodes 854, thisdisclosure contemplates any suitable edges 858 with any suitableattributes connecting user nodes 854. As an example and not by way oflimitation, an edge 858 may represent a friendship, family relationship,business or employment relationship, fan relationship, followerrelationship, visitor relationship, subscriber relationship,superior/subordinate relationship, reciprocal relationship,non-reciprocal relationship, another suitable type of relationship, ortwo or more such relationships. Moreover, although this disclosuregenerally describes nodes as being connected, this disclosure alsodescribes users or concepts as being connected. Herein, references tousers or concepts being connected may, where appropriate, refer to thenodes corresponding to those users or concepts being connected in socialgraph 838 by one or more edges 858.

In particular embodiments, an edge 858 between a user node 854 and aconcept node 856 may represent a particular action or activity performedby a user associated with user node 854 toward a concept associated witha concept node 856. As an example and not by way of limitation, asillustrated in FIG. 8C, a user may “like,” “attended,” “played,”“listened,” “cooked,” “worked at,” or “watched” a concept, each of whichmay correspond to an edge type or subtype. A concept-profile pagecorresponding to a concept node 856 may include, for example, aselectable “check in” icon (such as, for example, a clickable “check in”icon) or a selectable “add to favorites” icon. Similarly, after a userclicks these icons, the social-networking system may create a “favorite”edge or a “check in” edge in response to a user's action correspondingto a respective action. As another example and not by way of limitation,a user (user “Carla”) may listen to a particular song (“Across the Sea”)using a particular application (SPOTIFY, which is an online musicapplication). In this case, the social-networking system may create a“listened” edge 858 and a “used” edge (as illustrated in FIG. 8C)between user nodes 854 corresponding to the user and concept nodes 856corresponding to the song and application to indicate that the userlistened to the song and used the application. Moreover, thesocial-networking system may create a “played” edge 858 (as illustratedin FIG. 8C) between concept nodes 856 corresponding to the song and theapplication to indicate that the particular song was played by theparticular application. In this case, “played” edge 858 corresponds toan action performed by an external application (SPOTIFY) on an externalaudio file (the song “Across the Sea”). Although this disclosuredescribes particular edges 858 with particular attributes connectinguser nodes 854 and concept nodes 856, this disclosure contemplates anysuitable edges 858 with any suitable attributes connecting user nodes854 and concept nodes 856. Moreover, although this disclosure describesedges between a user node 854 and a concept node 856 representing asingle relationship, this disclosure contemplates edges between a usernode 854 and a concept node 856 representing one or more relationships.As an example and not by way of limitation, an edge 858 may representboth that a user likes and has used at a particular concept.Alternatively, another edge 858 may represent each type of relationship(or multiples of a single relationship) between a user node 854 and aconcept node 856 (as illustrated in FIG. 8C between user node 854 foruser “Edwin” and concept node 856 for “SPOTIFY”).

In particular embodiments, the social-networking system may create anedge 858 between a user node 854 and a concept node 856 in social graph838. As an example and not by way of limitation, a user viewing aconcept-profile page (such as, for example, by using a web browser or aspecial-purpose application hosted by the user's client system) mayindicate that he or she likes the concept represented by the conceptnode 856 by clicking or selecting a “Like” icon, which may cause theuser's client system to send to the social-networking system a messageindicating the user's liking of the concept associated with theconcept-profile page. In response to the message, the social-networkingsystem may create an edge 858 between user node 854 associated with theuser and concept node 856, as illustrated by “like” edge 858 between theuser and concept node 856. In particular embodiments, thesocial-networking system may store an edge 858 in one or more datastores. In particular embodiments, an edge 858 may be automaticallyformed by the social-networking system in response to a particular useraction. As an example and not by way of limitation, if a first useruploads a picture, watches a movie, or listens to a song, an edge 858may be formed between user node 854 corresponding to the first user andconcept nodes 856 corresponding to those concepts. Although thisdisclosure describes forming particular edges 858 in particular manners,this disclosure contemplates forming any suitable edges 858 in anysuitable manner.

The social graph 838 may further comprise a plurality of product nodes.Product nodes may represent particular products that may be associatedwith a particular business. A business may provide a product catalog toa consumer-to-business service and the consumer-to-business service maytherefore represent each of the products within the product in thesocial graph 838 with each product being in a distinct product node. Aproduct node may comprise information relating to the product, such aspricing information, descriptive information, manufacturer information,availability information, and other relevant information. For example,each of the items on a menu for a restaurant may be represented withinthe social graph 838 with a product node describing each of the items. Aproduct node may be linked by an edge to the business providing theproduct. Where multiple businesses provide a product, each business mayhave a distinct product node associated with its providing of theproduct or may each link to the same product node. A product node may belinked by an edge to each user that has purchased, rated, owns,recommended, or viewed the product, with the edge describing the natureof the relationship (e.g., purchased, rated, owns, recommended, viewed,or other relationship). Each of the product nodes may be associated witha graph id and an associated merchant id by virtue of the linkedmerchant business. Products available from a business may therefore becommunicated to a user by retrieving the available product nodes linkedto the user node for the business within the social graph 838. Theinformation for a product node may be manipulated by thesocial-networking system as a product object that encapsulatesinformation regarding the referenced product.

As such, the social graph 838 may be used to infer shared interests,shared experiences, or other shared or common attributes of two or moreusers of a social-networking system. For instance, two or more userseach having an edge to a common business, product, media item,institution, or other entity represented in the social graph 838 mayindicate a shared relationship with that entity, which may be used tosuggest customization of a use of a social-networking system, includinga messaging system, for one or more users.

The embodiments described above may be performed by a messagingarchitecture, an example of which is next described with reference toFIG. 9.

Messaging Architecture

FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment of a plurality of servers implementingvarious functions of a messaging service 900. It will be appreciatedthat different distributions of work and functions may be used invarious embodiments of a messaging service 900.

The messaging service 900 may comprise a domain name front end 902. Thedomain name front end 902 may be assigned one or more domain namesassociated with the messaging service 900 in a domain name system (DNS).The domain name front end 902 may receive incoming connections anddistribute the connections to servers providing various messagingservices.

The messaging service 902 may comprise one or more chat servers 904. Thechat servers 904 may comprise front-end servers for receiving andtransmitting user-to-user messaging updates such as chat messages.Incoming connections may be assigned to the chat servers 904 by thedomain name front end 902 based on workload balancing.

The messaging service 900 may comprise backend servers 908. The backendservers 908 may perform specialized tasks in the support of the chatoperations of the front-end chat servers 904. A plurality of differenttypes of backend servers 908 may be used. It will be appreciated thatthe assignment of types of tasks to different backend serves 908 mayvary in different embodiments. In some embodiments some of the back-endservices provided by dedicated servers may be combined onto a singleserver or a set of servers each performing multiple tasks dividedbetween different servers in the embodiment described herein. Similarly,in some embodiments tasks of some of dedicated back-end serversdescribed herein may be divided between different servers of differentserver groups.

The messaging service 900 may comprise one or more offline storageservers 910. The one or more offline storage servers 910 may storemessaging content for currently-offline messaging clients in hold forwhen the messaging clients reconnect.

The messaging service 900 may comprise one or more sessions servers 912.The one or more session servers 912 may maintain session state ofconnected messaging clients.

The messaging service 900 may comprise one or more presence servers 914.The one or more presence servers 914 may maintain presence informationfor the messaging service 900. Presence information may correspond touser-specific information indicating whether or not a given user has anonline messaging client and is available for chatting, has an onlinemessaging client but is currently away from it, does not have an onlinemessaging client, and any other presence state.

The messaging service 900 may comprise one or more push storage servers916. The one or more push storage servers 916 may cache push requestsand transmit the push requests to messaging clients. Push requests maybe used to wake messaging clients, to notify messaging clients that amessaging update is available, and to otherwise performserver-side-driven interactions with messaging clients.

The messaging service 900 may comprise one or more group servers 918.The one or more group servers 918 may maintain lists of groups, addusers to groups, remove users from groups, and perform the reception,caching, and forwarding of group chat messages.

The messaging service 900 may comprise one or more block list servers920. The one or more block list servers 920 may maintain user-specificblock lists, the user-specific incoming-block lists indicating for eachuser the one or more other users that are forbidden from transmittingmessages to that user. Alternatively or additionally, the one or moreblock list servers 920 may maintain user-specific outgoing-block listsindicating for each user the one or more other users that that user isforbidden from transmitting messages to. It will be appreciated thatincoming-block lists and outgoing-block lists may be stored incombination in, for example, a database, with the incoming-block listsand outgoing-block lists representing different views of a samerepository of block information.

The messaging service 900 may comprise one or more last seen informationservers 922. The one or more last seen information servers 922 mayreceive, store, and maintain information indicating the last seenlocation, status, messaging client, and other elements of a user's lastseen connection to the messaging service 900.

The messaging service 900 may comprise one or more key servers 924. Theone or more key servers may host public keys for public/private keyencrypted communication.

The messaging service 900 may comprise one or more profile photo servers926. The one or more profile photo servers 926 may store and makeavailable for retrieval profile photos for the plurality of users of themessaging service 900.

The messaging service 900 may comprise one or more spam logging servers928. The one or more spam logging servers 928 may log known andsuspected spam (e.g., unwanted messages, particularly those of apromotional nature). The one or more spam logging servers 928 may beoperative to analyze messages to determine whether they are spam and toperform punitive measures, in some embodiments, against suspectedspammers (users that send spam messages).

The messaging service 900 may comprise one or more statistics servers930. The one or more statistics servers may compile and store statisticsinformation related to the operation of the messaging service 900 andthe behavior of the users of the messaging service 900.

The messaging service 900 may comprise one or more web servers 932. Theone or more web servers 932 may engage in hypertext transport protocol(HTTP) and hypertext transport protocol secure (HTTPS) connections withweb browsers.

The messaging service 900 may comprise one or more chat activitymonitoring servers 934. The one or more chat activity monitoring servers934 may monitor the chats of users to determine unauthorized ordiscouraged behavior by the users of the messaging service 900. The oneor more chat activity monitoring servers 934 may work in cooperationwith the spam logging servers 928 and block list servers 920, with theone or more chat activity monitoring servers 934 identifying spam orother discouraged behavior and providing spam information to the spamlogging servers 928 and blocking information, where appropriate to theblock list servers 920.

The messaging service 900 may comprise one or more sync servers 936. Theone or more sync servers 936 may sync the messaging system 500 withcontact information from a messaging client, such as an address book ona mobile phone, to determine contacts for a user in the messagingservice 900.

The messaging service 900 may comprise one or more multimedia servers938. The one or more multimedia servers may store multimedia (e.g.,images, video, audio) in transit between messaging clients, multimediacached for offline endpoints, and may perform transcoding of multimedia.

The messaging service 900 may comprise one or more payment servers 940.The one or more payment servers 940 may process payments from users. Theone or more payment servers 940 may connect to external third-partyservers for the performance of payments.

The messaging service 900 may comprise one or more registration servers942. The one or more registration servers 942 may register new users ofthe messaging service 900.

The messaging service 900 may comprise one or more voice relay servers944. The one or more voice relay servers 944 may relayvoice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) voice communication betweenmessaging clients for the performance of VoIP calls.

The above-described methods may be embodied as instructions on acomputer readable medium or as part of a computing architecture. FIG. 10illustrates an embodiment of an exemplary computing architecture 1000suitable for implementing various embodiments as previously described.In one embodiment, the computing architecture 1000 may comprise or beimplemented as part of an electronic device, such as a computer 1001.The embodiments are not limited in this context.

As used in this application, the terms “system” and “component” areintended to refer to a computer-related entity, either hardware, acombination of hardware and software, software, or software inexecution, examples of which are provided by the exemplary computingarchitecture 1000. For example, a component can be, but is not limitedto being, a process running on a processor, a processor, a hard diskdrive, multiple storage drives (of optical and/or magnetic storagemedium), an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program,and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application runningon a server and the server can be a component. One or more componentscan reside within a process and/or thread of execution, and a componentcan be localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or morecomputers. Further, components may be communicatively coupled to eachother by various types of communications media to coordinate operations.The coordination may involve the uni-directional or bi-directionalexchange of information. For instance, the components may communicateinformation in the form of signals communicated over the communicationsmedia. The information can be implemented as signals allocated tovarious signal lines. In such allocations, each message is a signal.Further embodiments, however, may alternatively employ data messages.Such data messages may be sent across various connections. Exemplaryconnections include parallel interfaces, serial interfaces, and businterfaces.

The computing architecture 1000 includes various common computingelements, such as one or more processors, multi-core processors,co-processors, memory units, chipsets, controllers, peripherals,interfaces, oscillators, timing devices, video cards, audio cards,multimedia input/output (I/O) components, power supplies, and so forth.The embodiments, however, are not limited to implementation by thecomputing architecture 1000.

As shown in FIG. 10, the computing architecture 1000 comprises aprocessing unit 1002, a system memory 1004 and a system bus 1006. Theprocessing unit 1002 can be any of various commercially availableprocessors, including without limitation an AMD® Athlon®, Duron® andOpteron® processors; ARM® application, embedded and secure processors;IBM® and Motorola® DragonBall® and PowerPC® processors; IBM and Sony®Cell processors; Intel® Celeron®, Core (2) Duo®, Itanium®, Pentium®,Xeon®, and XScale® processors; and similar processors. Dualmicroprocessors, multi-core processors, and other multi-processorarchitectures may also be employed as the processing unit 1002.

The system bus 1006 provides an interface for system componentsincluding, but not limited to, the system memory 1004 to the processingunit 1002. The system bus 1006 can be any of several types of busstructure that may further interconnect to a memory bus (with or withouta memory controller), a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of avariety of commercially available bus architectures. Interface adaptersmay connect to the system bus 1006 via a slot architecture. Example slotarchitectures may include without limitation Accelerated Graphics Port(AGP), Card Bus, (Extended) Industry Standard Architecture ((E)ISA),Micro Channel Architecture (MCA), NuBus, Peripheral ComponentInterconnect (Extended) (PCI(X)), PCI Express, Personal Computer MemoryCard International Association (PCMCIA), and the like.

The computing architecture 1000 may comprise or implement variousarticles of manufacture. An article of manufacture may comprise acomputer-readable storage medium to store logic. Examples of acomputer-readable storage medium may include any tangible media capableof storing electronic data, including volatile memory or non-volatilememory, removable or non-removable memory, erasable or non-erasablememory, writeable or re-writeable memory, and so forth. Examples oflogic may include executable computer program instructions implementedusing any suitable type of code, such as source code, compiled code,interpreted code, executable code, static code, dynamic code,object-oriented code, visual code, and the like. Embodiments may also beat least partly implemented as instructions contained in or on anon-transitory computer-readable medium, which may be read and executedby one or more processors to enable performance of the operationsdescribed herein.

The system memory 1004 may include various types of computer-readablestorage media in the form of one or more higher speed memory units, suchas read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM(DRAM), Double-Data-Rate DRAM (DDRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), staticRAM (SRAM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, polymermemory such as ferroelectric polymer memory, ovonic memory, phase changeor ferroelectric memory, silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS)memory, magnetic or optical cards, an array of devices such as RedundantArray of Independent Disks (RAID) drives, solid state memory devices(e.g., USB memory, solid state drives (SSD) and any other type ofstorage media suitable for storing information. In the illustratedembodiment shown in FIG. 10, the system memory 1004 can includenon-volatile memory 1008 and/or volatile memory 1010. A basicinput/output system (BIOS) can be stored in the non-volatile memory1008.

The computing architecture 1000 may include various types ofcomputer-readable storage media in the form of one or more lower speedmemory units, including an internal (or external) hard disk drive (HDD)1012, a magnetic floppy disk drive (FDD) 1014 to read from or write to aremovable magnetic disk 1016, and an optical disk drive 1018 to readfrom or write to a removable optical disk 1020 (e.g., a CD-ROM or DVD).The HDD 1012, FDD 1014 and optical disk drive 1020 can be connected tothe system bus 1006 by an HDD interface 1022, an FDD interface 1024 andan optical drive interface 1026, respectively. The HDD interface 1022for external drive implementations can include at least one or both ofUniversal Serial Bus (USB) and IEEE 694 interface technologies.

The drives and associated computer-readable media provide volatileand/or nonvolatile storage of data, data structures, computer-executableinstructions, and so forth. For example, a number of program modules canbe stored in the drives and memory units 1008, 1012, including anoperating system 1028, one or more application programs 1030, otherprogram modules 1032, and program data 1034. In one embodiment, the oneor more application programs 1030, other program modules 1032, andprogram data 1034 can include, for example, the various applicationsand/or components of the messaging system 500.

A user can enter commands and information into the computer 1001 throughone or more wire/wireless input devices, for example, a keyboard 1036and a pointing device, such as a mouse 1038. Other input devices mayinclude microphones, infra-red (IR) remote controls, radio-frequency(RF) remote controls, game pads, stylus pens, card readers, dongles,finger print readers, gloves, graphics tablets, joysticks, keyboards,retina readers, touch screens (e.g., capacitive, resistive, etc.),trackballs, trackpads, sensors, styluses, and the like. These and otherinput devices are often connected to the processing unit 1002 through aninput device interface 1040 that is coupled to the system bus 1006, butcan be connected by other interfaces such as a parallel port, IEEE 694serial port, a game port, a USB port, an IR interface, and so forth.

A monitor 1042 or other type of display device is also connected to thesystem bus 1006 via an interface, such as a video adaptor 1044. Themonitor 1042 may be internal or external to the computer 1001. Inaddition to the monitor 1042, a computer typically includes otherperipheral output devices, such as speakers, printers, and so forth.

The computer 1001 may operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections via wire and/or wireless communications to one or moreremote computers, such as a remote computer 1044. The remote computer1044 can be a workstation, a server computer, a router, a personalcomputer, portable computer, microprocessor-based entertainmentappliance, a peer device or other common network node, and typicallyincludes many or all of the elements described relative to the computer1001, although, for purposes of brevity, only a memory/storage device1046 is illustrated. The logical connections depicted includewire/wireless connectivity to a local area network (LAN) 1048 and/orlarger networks, for example, a wide area network (WAN) 1050. Such LANand WAN networking environments are commonplace in offices andcompanies, and facilitate enterprise-wide computer networks, such asintranets, all of which may connect to a global communications network,for example, the Internet.

When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 1001 isconnected to the LAN 1048 through a wire and/or wireless communicationnetwork interface or adaptor 1052. The adaptor 1052 can facilitate wireand/or wireless communications to the LAN 1048, which may also include awireless access point disposed thereon for communicating with thewireless functionality of the adaptor 1052.

When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer 1001 can includea modem 1054, or is connected to a communications server on the WAN1050, or has other means for establishing communications over the WAN1050, such as by way of the Internet. The modem 1054, which can beinternal or external and a wire and/or wireless device, connects to thesystem bus 1006 via the input device interface 1040. In a networkedenvironment, program modules depicted relative to the computer 1001, orportions thereof, can be stored in the remote memory/storage device1046. It will be appreciated that the network connections shown areexemplary and other means of establishing a communications link betweenthe computers can be used.

The computer 1001 is operable to communicate with wire and wirelessdevices or entities using the IEEE 802 family of standards, such aswireless devices operatively disposed in wireless communication (e.g.,IEEE 802.13 over-the-air modulation techniques). This includes at leastWi-Fi (or Wireless Fidelity), WiMax, and Bluetooth™ wirelesstechnologies, among others. Thus, the communication can be a predefinedstructure as with a conventional network or simply an ad hoccommunication between at least two devices. Wi-Fi networks use radiotechnologies called IEEE 802.13x (a, b, g, n, etc.) to provide secure,reliable, fast wireless connectivity. A Wi-Fi network can be used toconnect computers to each other, to the Internet, and to wire networks(which use IEEE 802.3-related media and functions).

FIG. 11 is a block diagram depicting an exemplary communicationsarchitecture 1100 suitable for implementing various embodiments aspreviously described. The communications architecture 1100 includesvarious common communications elements, such as a transmitter, receiver,transceiver, radio, network interface, baseband processor, antenna,amplifiers, filters, power supplies, and so forth. The embodiments,however, are not limited to implementation by the communicationsarchitecture 1100.

As shown in FIG. 11, the communications architecture 1100 includes oneor more clients 1102 and servers 1104. The clients 1102 may implementthe client device 510. The servers 1104 may implement the server device526. The clients 1102 and the servers 1104 are operatively connected toone or more respective client data stores 1106 and server data stores1108 that can be employed to store information local to the respectiveclients 1102 and servers 1104, such as cookies and/or associatedcontextual information.

The clients 1102 and the servers 1104 may communicate informationbetween each other using a communication framework 1110. Thecommunications framework 1110 may implement any well-knowncommunications techniques and protocols. The communications framework1110 may be implemented as a packet-switched network (e.g., publicnetworks such as the Internet, private networks such as an enterpriseintranet, and so forth), a circuit-switched network (e.g., the publicswitched telephone network), or a combination of a packet-switchednetwork and a circuit-switched network (with suitable gateways andtranslators).

The communications framework 1110 may implement various networkinterfaces arranged to accept, communicate, and connect to acommunications network. A network interface may be regarded as aspecialized form of an input output interface. Network interfaces mayemploy connection protocols including without limitation direct connect,Ethernet (e.g., thick, thin, twisted pair 10/100/1000 Base T, and thelike), token ring, wireless network interfaces, cellular networkinterfaces, IEEE 802.11a-x network interfaces, IEEE 802.16 networkinterfaces, IEEE 802.20 network interfaces, and the like. Further,multiple network interfaces may be used to engage with variouscommunications network types. For example, multiple network interfacesmay be employed to allow for the communication over broadcast,multicast, and unicast networks. Should processing requirements dictatea greater amount speed and capacity, distributed network controllerarchitectures may similarly be employed to pool, load balance, andotherwise increase the communicative bandwidth required by clients 1102and the servers 1104. A communications network may be any one and thecombination of wired and/or wireless networks including withoutlimitation a direct interconnection, a secured custom connection, aprivate network (e.g., an enterprise intranet), a public network (e.g.,the Internet), a Personal Area Network (PAN), a Local Area Network(LAN), a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), an Operating Missions as Nodeson the Internet (OMNI), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a wireless network, acellular network, and other communications networks.

FIG. 12 illustrates an embodiment of a device 1200 for use in amulticarrier OFDM system, such as the messaging system 500. The device1200 may implement, for example, software components 1202 as describedwith reference to the messaging component logic 600, the intentdetermination logic 700, and the group selection logic 800. The device1200 may also implement a logic circuit 1204. The logic circuit 1204 mayinclude physical circuits to perform operations described for themessaging system 500. As shown in FIG. 12, device 1200 may include aradio interface 1206, baseband circuitry 1208, and a computing platform1210, although embodiments are not limited to this configuration.

The device 1200 may implement some or all of the structure and/oroperations for the messaging system 500 and/or logic circuit 1204 in asingle computing entity, such as entirely within a single device.Alternatively, the device 1200 may distribute portions of the structureand/or operations for the messaging system 500 and/or logic circuit 1204across multiple computing entities using a distributed systemarchitecture, such as a client-server architecture, a 3-tierarchitecture, an N-tier architecture, a tightly-coupled or clusteredarchitecture, a peer-to-peer architecture, a master-slave architecture,a shared database architecture, and other types of distributed systems.The embodiments are not limited in this context.

In one embodiment, the radio interface 1206 may include a component orcombination of components adapted for transmitting and/or receivingsingle carrier or multi-carrier modulated signals (e.g., includingcomplementary code keying (CCK) and/or orthogonal frequency divisionmultiplexing (OFDM) symbols) although the embodiments are not limited toany specific over-the-air interface or modulation scheme. The radiointerface 1206 may include, for example, a receiver 1212, a transmitter1214 and/or a frequency synthesizer 1216. The radio interface 1206 mayinclude bias controls, a crystal oscillator and/or one or more antennas1218. In another embodiment, the radio interface 1206 may use externalvoltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs), surface acoustic wave filters,intermediate frequency (IF) filters and/or RF filters, as desired. Dueto the variety of potential RF interface designs an expansivedescription thereof is omitted.

The baseband circuitry 1208 may communicate with the radio interface1206 to process receive and/or transmit signals and may include, forexample, an analog-to-digital converter 1220 for down convertingreceived signals, and a digital-to-analog converter 1222 forup-converting signals for transmission. Further, the baseband circuitry1208 may include a baseband or physical layer (PHY) processing circuit1224 for PHY link layer processing of respective receive/transmitsignals. The baseband circuitry 1208 may include, for example, aprocessing circuit 1226 for medium access control (MAC)/data link layerprocessing. The baseband circuitry 1208 may include a memory controller1228 for communicating with the processing circuit 1226 and/or acomputing platform 1210, for example, via one or more interfaces 1230.

In some embodiments, the PHY processing circuit 1224 may include a frameconstruction and/or detection module, in combination with additionalcircuitry such as a buffer memory, to construct and/or deconstructcommunication frames, such as radio frames. Alternatively or inaddition, the MAC processing circuit 1226 may share processing forcertain of these functions or perform these processes independent of thePHY processing circuit 1224. In some embodiments, MAC and PHY processingmay be integrated into a single circuit.

The computing platform 1210 may provide computing functionality for thedevice 1200. As shown, the computing platform 1210 may include aprocessing component 1232. In addition to, or alternatively of, thebaseband circuitry 1208, the device 1200 may execute processingoperations or logic for the messaging system 500 and logic circuit 1204using the processing component 1232. The processing component 1232(and/or the PHY 1224 and/or MAC 1226) may comprise various hardwareelements, software elements, or a combination of both. Examples ofhardware elements may include devices, logic devices, components,processors, microprocessors, circuits, processor circuits, circuitelements (e.g., transistors, resistors, capacitors, inductors, and soforth), integrated circuits, application specific integrated circuits(ASIC), programmable logic devices (PLD), digital signal processors(DSP), field programmable gate array (FPGA), memory units, logic gates,registers, semiconductor device, chips, microchips, chip sets, and soforth. Examples of software elements may include software components,programs, applications, computer programs, application programs, systemprograms, software development programs, machine programs, operatingsystem software, middleware, firmware, software modules, routines,subroutines, functions, methods, procedures, software interfaces,application program interfaces (API), instruction sets, computing code,computer code, code segments, computer code segments, words, values,symbols, or any combination thereof. Determining whether an embodimentis implemented using hardware elements and/or software elements may varyin accordance with any number of factors, such as desired computationalrate, power levels, heat tolerances, processing cycle budget, input datarates, output data rates, memory resources, data bus speeds and otherdesign or performance constraints, as desired for a givenimplementation.

The computing platform 1210 may further include other platformcomponents 1234. Other platform components 1234 include common computingelements, such as one or more processors, multi-core processors,co-processors, memory units, chipsets, controllers, peripherals,interfaces, oscillators, timing devices, video cards, audio cards,multimedia input/output (I/O) components (e.g., digital displays), powersupplies, and so forth. Examples of memory units may include withoutlimitation various types of computer readable and machine readablestorage media in the form of one or more higher speed memory units, suchas read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM(DRAM), Double-Data-Rate DRAM (DDRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), staticRAM (SRAM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, polymermemory such as ferroelectric polymer memory, ovonic memory, phase changeor ferroelectric memory, silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS)memory, magnetic or optical cards, an array of devices such as RedundantArray of Independent Disks (RAID) drives, solid state memory devices(e.g., USB memory, solid state drives (SSD) and any other type ofstorage media suitable for storing information.

The device 1200 may be, for example, an ultra-mobile device, a mobiledevice, a fixed device, a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a mobile computing device, a smart phone, atelephone, a digital telephone, a cellular telephone, user equipment,eBook readers, a handset, a one-way pager, a two-way pager, a messagingdevice, a computer, a personal computer (PC), a desktop computer, alaptop computer, a notebook computer, a netbook computer, a handheldcomputer, a tablet computer, a server, a server array or server farm, aweb server, a network server, an Internet server, a work station, amini-computer, a main frame computer, a supercomputer, a networkappliance, a web appliance, a distributed computing system,multiprocessor systems, processor-based systems, consumer electronics,programmable consumer electronics, game devices, television, digitaltelevision, set top box, wireless access point, base station, node B,evolved node B (eNB), subscriber station, mobile subscriber center,radio network controller, router, hub, gateway, bridge, switch, machine,or combination thereof. Accordingly, functions and/or specificconfigurations of the device 1200 described herein, may be included oromitted in various embodiments of the device 1200, as suitably desired.In some embodiments, the device 1200 may be configured to be compatiblewith protocols and frequencies associated one or more of the 3GPP LTESpecifications and/or IEEE 1402.16 Standards for WMANs, and/or otherbroadband wireless networks, cited herein, although the embodiments arenot limited in this respect.

Embodiments of device 1200 may be implemented using single input singleoutput (SISO) architectures. However, certain implementations mayinclude multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 1218) for transmission and/orreception using adaptive antenna techniques for beamforming or spatialdivision multiple access (SDMA) and/or using MIMO communicationtechniques.

The components and features of the device 1200 may be implemented usingany combination of discrete circuitry, application specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), logic gates and/or single chip architectures. Further,the features of the device 1200 may be implemented usingmicrocontrollers, programmable logic arrays and/or microprocessors orany combination of the foregoing where suitably appropriate. It is notedthat hardware, firmware and/or software elements may be collectively orindividually referred to herein as “logic” or “circuit.”

It will be appreciated that the exemplary device 1200 shown in the blockdiagram of FIG. 12 may represent one functionally descriptive example ofmany potential implementations. Accordingly, division, omission orinclusion of block functions depicted in the accompanying figures doesnot infer that the hardware components, circuits, software and/orelements for implementing these functions would be necessarily bedivided, omitted, or included in embodiments.

At least one computer-readable storage medium 1236 may includeinstructions that, when executed, cause a system to perform any of thecomputer-implemented methods described herein.

General Notes on Terminology

Some embodiments may be described using the expression “one embodiment”or “an embodiment” along with their derivatives. These terms mean that aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connectionwith the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Theappearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in thespecification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.Moreover, unless otherwise noted the features described above arerecognized to be usable together in any combination. Thus, any featuresdiscussed separately may be employed in combination with each otherunless it is noted that the features are incompatible with each other.

With general reference to notations and nomenclature used herein, thedetailed descriptions herein may be presented in terms of programprocedures executed on a computer or network of computers. Theseprocedural descriptions and representations are used by those skilled inthe art to most effectively convey the substance of their work to othersskilled in the art.

A procedure is here, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistentsequence of operations leading to a desired result. These operations arethose requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually,though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical,magnetic or optical signals capable of being stored, transferred,combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It proves convenient attimes, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to thesesignals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers,or the like. It should be noted, however, that all of these and similarterms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities andare merely convenient labels applied to those quantities.

Further, the manipulations performed are often referred to in terms,such as adding or comparing, which are commonly associated with mentaloperations performed by a human operator. No such capability of a humanoperator is necessary, or desirable in most cases, in any of theoperations described herein, which form part of one or more embodiments.Rather, the operations are machine operations. Useful machines forperforming operations of various embodiments include general purposedigital computers or similar devices.

Some embodiments may be described using the expression “coupled” and“connected” along with their derivatives. These terms are notnecessarily intended as synonyms for each other. For example, someembodiments may be described using the terms “connected” and/or“coupled” to indicate that two or more elements are in direct physicalor electrical contact with each other. The term “coupled,” however, mayalso mean that two or more elements are not in direct contact with eachother, but yet still co-operate or interact with each other.

Various embodiments also relate to apparatus or systems for performingthese operations. This apparatus may be specially constructed for therequired purpose or it may comprise a general purpose computer asselectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored inthe computer. The procedures presented herein are not inherently relatedto a particular computer or other apparatus. Various general purposemachines may be used with programs written in accordance with theteachings herein, or it may prove convenient to construct morespecialized apparatus to perform the required method steps. The requiredstructure for a variety of these machines will appear from thedescription given.

It is emphasized that the Abstract of the Disclosure is provided toallow a reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technicaldisclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not beused to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. Inaddition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen thatvarious features are grouped together in a single embodiment for thepurpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is notto be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimedembodiments require more features than are expressly recited in eachclaim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matterlies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thusthe following claims are hereby incorporated into the DetailedDescription, with each claim standing on its own as a separateembodiment. In the appended claims, the terms “including” and “in which”are used as the plain-English equivalents of the respective terms“comprising” and “wherein,” respectively. Moreover, the terms “first,”“second,” “third,” and so forth, are used merely as labels, and are notintended to impose numerical requirements on their objects.

What has been described above includes examples of the disclosedarchitecture. It is, of course, not possible to describe everyconceivable combination of components and/or methodologies, but one ofordinary skill in the art may recognize that many further combinationsand permutations are possible. Accordingly, the novel architecture isintended to embrace all such alterations, modifications and variationsthat fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A non-transitory computer-readable mediumstoring instructions, the stored instructions configured to cause one ormore processors to: transmit an invitation to participate in asynchronous video conversation, the invitation originating from a senderclient device and directed to one or more identified recipient clientdevices; receive an instruction, the instruction originating from thesender client device or from the one or more identified recipient clientdevices; and determine a type of instruction by: determining whether thetype of instruction corresponds to a video conversation handshake, inresponse to the type of instruction not being the video conversationhandshake, determining whether the type of instruction corresponds to acreation of a thread, and in response to the type of instruction notbeing the creation of the thread, determining whether the type ofinstruction corresponds to a transmission of a message to the one ormore identified recipient client devices.
 2. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the invitation includes atleast information related to a handshake procedure corresponding to thesender client device for setting up a video conversation.
 3. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the storedinstructions are configured to further cause the one or more processorsto: receive streaming video from the sender client device, the streamingvideo corresponding to a video message currently being recorded at thesender client device; and transmit the streaming video to the one ormore identified recipient client devices.
 4. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instruction includes atleast a header and a payload, the header of the instruction identifyingthe type of the instruction and the payload of the instruction includingdetails to carry out the instruction.
 5. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the stored instructions areconfigured to further cause the one or more processors to: in responseto the type of instruction being the video conversation handshake,establish a video conversation between the sender client device and atleast one recipient client device of the one or more identifiedrecipient client devices that has replied based on information in theinvitation or the instruction, and wherein the information relates to ahandshake procedure corresponding to the at least one recipient clientdevice for setting up the video conversation.
 6. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 5, wherein the stored instructions areconfigured to further cause the one or more processors to: determinewhether a synchronous video conversation associated with the invitationhas been established; and establish, if the synchronous videoconversation associated with the invitation has not yet beenestablished, a new video conversation between the sender client deviceand the at least one recipient client device.
 7. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 5, wherein the stored instructions areconfigured to further cause the one or more processors to: determinewhether any of the one or more identified recipient client devices andthe sender client device has already entered into an existing videoconversation; and add, if any of the one or more identified recipientclient devices and the sender client device has already entered into theexisting video conversation, the at least one recipient client device tothe existing video conversation as the video conversation.
 8. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the storedinstructions are configured to further cause the one or more processorsto: in response to the type of instruction being the creation of thethread, create a new messaging thread, wherein a thread identifier isassigned to the new messaging thread and returned to the sender clientdevice or the one or more identified recipient client devices thatoriginated the instruction, and wherein the new messaging thread holdsat least an asynchronous video artifact.
 9. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the stored instructions areconfigured to further cause the one or more processors to: in responseto the type of instruction being the transmission of the message,transmit the message to any of the one or more identified recipientclient devices, and wherein the message includes at least a copy of avideo recorded at the sender client device.
 10. An apparatus comprising:memory for storing instructions; and one or more processors configuredto execute the stored instructions that when executed, causes the one ormore processors to: transmit an invitation to participate in asynchronous video conversation, the invitation originating from a senderclient device and directed to one or more identified recipient clientdevices; receive an instruction, the instruction originating from thesender client device or from the one or more identified recipient clientdevices; and determine a type of instruction by: determining whether thetype of instruction corresponds to a video conversation handshake, inresponse to the type of instruction not being the video conversationhandshake, determining whether the type of instruction corresponds to acreation of a thread, and in response to the type of instruction notbeing the creation of the thread, determining whether the type ofinstruction corresponds to a transmission of a message to the one ormore identified recipient client devices.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10,wherein the instruction includes at least a header and a payload, theheader of the instruction identifying the type of the instruction andthe payload of the instruction including details to carry out theinstruction.
 12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the one or moreprocessors is further caused to: in response to the type of instructionbeing the video conversation handshake, establish a video conversationbetween the sender client device and at least one recipient clientdevice of the one or more identified recipient client devices that hasreplied based on information in the invitation or the instruction, andwherein the information relates to a handshake procedure correspondingto the at least one recipient client device for setting up the videoconversation.
 13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the one or moreprocessors is further caused to: in response to the type of instructionbeing the creation of the thread, create a new messaging thread, whereina thread identifier is assigned to the new messaging thread and returnedto the sender client device or the one or more identified recipientclient devices that originated the instruction, and wherein the newmessaging thread holds at least an asynchronous video artifact.
 14. Theapparatus of claim 10, wherein the one or more processors is furthercaused to: in response to the type of instruction being the transmissionof the message, transmit the message to any of the one or moreidentified recipient client devices, and wherein the message includes atleast a copy of a video recorded at the sender client device.
 15. Amethod, comprising: transmitting an invitation to participate in asynchronous video conversation, the invitation originating from a senderclient device and directed to one or more identified recipient clientdevices; receiving an instruction, the instruction originating from thesender client device or from the one or more identified recipient clientdevices; and determining a type of instruction by: determining whetherthe type of instruction corresponds to a video conversation handshake,in response to the type of instruction not being the video conversationhandshake, determining whether the type of instruction corresponds to acreation of a thread, and in response to the type of instruction notbeing the creation of the thread, determining whether the type ofinstruction corresponds to a transmission of a message to the one ormore identified recipient client devices.
 16. The method of claim 15,further comprising: in response to the type of instruction being thevideo conversation handshake, establishing a video conversation betweenthe sender client device and at least one recipient client device of theone or more identified recipient client devices that has replied basedon information in the invitation or the instruction, and wherein theinformation relates to a handshake procedure corresponding to the atleast one recipient client device for setting up the video conversation.17. The method of claim 15, further comprising: in response to the typeof instruction being the creation of the thread, creating a newmessaging thread, wherein a thread identifier is assigned to the newmessaging thread and returned to the sender client device or the one ormore identified recipient client devices that originated theinstruction, and wherein the new messaging thread holds at least anasynchronous video artifact.
 18. The method of claim 15, furthercomprising: in response to the type of instruction being thetransmission of the message, transmitting the message to any of the oneor more identified recipient client devices, and wherein the messageincludes at least a copy of a video recorded at the sender clientdevice.